Oquendo Notches Windy/Indy Win Over Rossy

By Percy Dockery at ringside

Saturday night at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana, Hitz Boxing’s “Fast” Fres Oquendo, 36-7 (23) of Chicago, IL (currently ranked #5 by the WBA) faced a very tough and game Derric “El Leon” Rossy, 28-7 (14), of Medford, NY in a 10-round bout. Fres predicted an early KO but Rossy wasn’t having any of it. Rossy came out like he was the favorite, showing no signs of nervousness. In rounds one through three, Rossy came out very aggressive, using his jab to set up combinations to the body of the former champ. Even though the body punches were flush and clean, Oquendo took them well, showing Rossy that it takes a lot more than body shots to derail him. When Oquendo attempted to grab Rossy, he was met with several more quick body shots and a few to the back of the head. Rossy began fighting in urgency. Even though Rossy played the aggressor, throwing multiple combos and punches, other than the body shots, only a few landed upstairs on Oquendo. That’s because the former multi-time regional champ has been in this situation before. Oquendo knows how to smother punches and not allow his opponent to land any clean shots to the chin.

After the third round, Oquendo started to warm up and find his range. In rounds four through seven, Oquendo started using very good head and feet movement along with feints, which seemed to confuse Rossy. This paved the way for Oquendo to land his jab, causing blood flow from his opponent’s nose. Rossy never gave up, continuing to fight back for the rest of the bout, though he was constantly in reverse trying to avoid getting KO’ed.

In rounds seven through nine, Oquendo started landing clean uppercuts and left hooks at will, seemingly taking the steam out of Rossy. Once Oquendo smelled blood in the water, he caught his opponent with mostly power shots and a stiff jab. Rossy’s face showed the effects of the pounding Oquendo dished out in the second half of the fight. In round 10, this writer was impressed with the resonant conditioning of both fighters. Oquendo landed a few hard uppercuts and overhand rights clean throughout the round but Rossy still showed no quit and continued fighting back till the last bell. The three judges at ringside scored the bout 97-93 (twice) and 98-92, a unanimous decision nod for Oquendo.

Rossy has skills and heart and Windy City area fight fans look forward to seeing him again soon. I heard through the grapevine that Tomasz Adamek may be next for Oquendo, so stay tuned.